Redemption Arc

Lucian parted the flaps that led into a tent with a great deal of clearance. Hazy smoke drifted in and around this ostentatiously decorated place. It looked a little bit like a circus, though there were no attractions to look at save the interesting people manning it. Aurelia followed just behind him.

“Welcome, dear customer! Welcome to Reginald’s Traveling Emporium.” A rather ridiculously tall man greeted them. He wore a strange outfit that concealed his hair and clung rather tightly to the skin to emphasize his bizarre, lanky figure. “We have all manner of items for sale today.”

This place, Reginald’s Traveling Emporium, was a shop that roamed around the continent, appearing in various different places. Embarrassingly enough, Lucian knew its entire schedule. It was needed for the 100% speedrun, as it offered many unique items throughout the game at varying times. The thing Lucian was looking for today was always here.

“I need a tattoo made,” Lucian said. He gestured to Aurelia. “For her.”

“Ah—I do so love a customer who knows what they want,” the tall man said, then gestured. “Right that way. Ask for Molly.”

Lucian nodded and then led Aurelia in the direction of the tattoo artist.

“A tattoo? That’s the muzzle you were talking about?”

Lucian nodded in confirmation. “I’m going to see to it that you get the whole thing without issue.”

“I don’t want a tattoo. They’re grotesque,” Aurelia complained.

Lucian brooked no complaint. “It suits you, then.”

The tattoo he was getting her prevented all ailments that affected the mind. Even on hardcore, mental afflictions were very easy to prepare for, and the tattoo came with a penalty to HP. All of the tattoos here had pretty large penalties that offset their usefulness, except for in this case.

In this case, the HP penalty might actually be useful.

***

Aurelia grimaced as she felt something sharp pierce her back. The woman operating on her opened her skin slightly, applied pigment, and then healed it with magic. She didn’t know why Lucian was so confident this would work. But then, there were many mysteries about him. Frankly, this sort of place screamed like a scammer’s paradise to her. She knew liars—and many of these people fit the bill.

Aurelia had been trying very hard to decipher the language on the note that he’d given her. She had the time to cross reference it with some of the books in the monastery’s library. The monastery had one of the most robust collection of books in the world, many of them sporting countless dead languages. The language that Lucian used matched with none.

There was some manner of higher power backing Lucian—she was certain of it. He had known things that she’d shared with the First Emperor personally, and no one else. She couldn’t deny that she was immensely displeased about what had happened, and constantly wrought with anxiety about what felt like an inevitable death. At the same time, she was terrified of doing anything that could get her in trouble. It seemed like Lucian knew everything about her. She feared that one misstep could lead to her death. And death terrified her above all.

The Mentor’s Seal… caught in my own trap, she reflected grimly, wincing again when the tattoo artist’s blade cut a little too deep. If I ever want to use my power, I need his permission. It’s almost entirely foolproof. The seal has only one flaw, one way to break it that I know of… and that is exceeding the Mentor’s holy affinity.

Aurelia turned her head on its side to look at Lucian. He wrote on his Evercodex, occasionally glancing upward to check the progress. How much could the gulf between their affinities be? Dorothea had once qualified hers as around 95% purity. That number was immensely challenging to reach. His couldn’t be much higher. 96%, perhaps? 97% was extremely improbable.

I can become better, Aurelia reflected. And I can make him worse. That’s the only safe path to freedom.

“You’re smiling?” Lucian noted contemptuously. “Hey, Molly. I think she’s having fun. Think you could make the cuts a bit deeper to improve the experience for her?”

How the hell do I make that worse? Aurelia thought, frustrated.

Molly laughed nervously. “That’s not what I… umm, I can’t…”

“What if I give you a little extra?” Lucian proposed.

“I’m nearly finished,” Molly said, glad to have the out.

When Aurelia felt the knife complete a circle, she felt a warm, light sensation seep into her head. That creeping something she’d known for years uncountable screamed and writhed and agony, and Aurelia clutched her skull. She thrashed enough that she fell off the table.

“What…” Aurelia looked at Molly. “What was that?”

“I don’t know, I… I didn’t do anything,” Molly said defensively.

Lucian stood over Aurelia. “The ink is made from the sap of a tree that grows on hallowed grounds.” He kneeled, then spoke quietly to her so one else could overhear. “There’s a lot of scams in this place. This isn’t one of them. Sorry, but you’ll never talk to demons again… because even if you scrape all the skin on your back off, that tattoo will still come back.” Lucian rose. “Now, come on. We have someone to meet.”

***

Lucian opened the door and entered into a room in an inn a fair distance away from Golvenne, capital of the Empire of Riverra. It was a humble enough place, and out of the way enough that no one important would be paying attention. Aurelia was right behind him. The person in the room turned their head to look at him, and then stood up with a smile on their face.

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“Lucian…” Denzel walked over brightly. “By the heavens… you did it. I can’t believe that you did it.” He stopped, looking at Aurelia. “Who is this?”

“Former Prioress Aurelia. She’s privy to the plan, so you don’t need to hold anything back.” Lucian looked over. “She’s taken a vow of silence.”

“No I haven’t,” she protested.

“She’s not very good at keeping her vows,” Lucian explained. “She lives a life of debauchery and sin.”

Denzel looked between them. “Former prioress? I heard that you left the monastery on poor terms. I see that information was incorrect. Is she your fiancée.”

“I’d rather drown.” Lucian looked around, then changed the subject. “I assume that you saw the good news?”

“I did.” Denzel walked back over to the table in his room. “Metterand, a demon…”

“He certainly acted like one,” Lucian deflected, then walked over to and sat down at the table. “There’s one thing I need from you right away. Aurelia needs a place near Verne. Rural, out-of-the-way. Someplace not watched, where I can visit without being seen. I’ll supply some men to guard it, I just need you to find the place.” He raised a finger and pointed at Denzel. “Absolutely no noise. You do this personally. No one can find out about it, not even your family.”

If it was known Lucian and Aurelia were associated, that might get back to the demons. And if the demons knew that Lucian was associating with Aurelia, they might connect the dots that he had something to do with her failure. Altogether, that needed to be avoided.

“I can pull some strings.” Denzel nodded, then looked at Aurelia once more. “So, she is your fiancée?”

“Absolutely not. If you say that again, I might vomit,” Lucian said.

Denzel looked between them. “So, you want a secluded, out of the way place for a woman…” he studied her. “…like that, that’s close enough to travel to but not busy enough to be seen, which you’ll provide men to guard.”

“It could be a prison. That works,” Lucian suggested.

“He’s only joking,” Aurelia said urgently.

Denzel looked at Lucian, and he shook his head. “It’s no trouble to work something like that out. A rural cottage.”

“Alright. I’ll leave her with you. Her escort will be arriving to this place shortly—monastics from Heavenwatch,” Lucian explained. “Their leader’s a man named Crane—goes by Brother Crane. They’ll be keeping a close eye on her.”

“Alright. I owe you that much.” Denzel nodded. “What about the future? I think we have a lot to discuss.”

Lucian nodded. “We do. If I’m right, your father assigned your brother Algard as the new chancellor. I have some plans centered around that—things we can do to make sure the Treaty of V—”

“It’s not my brother,” Denzel interrupted, raising his hand. “It’s… Duke Cyril.”

Lucian gaped. “You mean…”

“Yeah.” Denzel nodded grimly.

Lucian let the silence extend. Then he sighed, long and hard. “God damn it…”

***

Denzel’s royal carriage rolled onward. Lucian stared out the window. He didn’t have much time to rest. The fact was, the second story mission was right around the corner. It was the beginning of the first major story arc—the one centered around the Empire of Riverra. His relationship with Denzel had been largely solidified, which would be a huge benefit for what came in in the future, but now…

Duke Cyril Villamar, Lucian reflected grimly. One of the few figures I lack substantial knowledge on. His death was always something of a mystery in the game. The illness that he had was never expanded on in great detail, but some suspected that it had something to do with the Black Bloom that afflicted the elves.

Recalling the blackened flesh Cyril had, Lucian wondered if there was some truth to that.

“The other three great powers are already making overtures toward each other, intending to use this as an opportunity to suppress us diplomatically,” Denzel explained as the carriage rolled on. “Your father… I know that you may not have the highest opinion of him, but he’s a firm patriot, and a loyal vassal.”

Lucian looked at him. “He was advocating for the treaty to be redrafted right alongside Metterand. You were there.”

“The situation has changed. Any proposal that Metterand has touched is tainted—Cyril will know that. We have an opportunity to leverage the other three great powers to conduct a purge within our nation.” Denzel leaned in. “We can use them to cull the rot within our empire, Lucian. Cyril would have to go along with that.”

Lucian sighed, and then shook his head. “You probably know him better than I do. Your word would probably have more sway than mine, also. But we’ve got something of a problem, though.”

“What?” Denzel raised a brow.

“Public opinion of your father is worse than ever,” Lucian said bluntly. “You must know that he’s been consistently raising taxes, probably because he anticipated—even welcomed—a war.”

Denzel said nothing, but his face grew grimmer. He probably knew that taxes had been going higher, but he hadn’t yet connected the pieces as to why.

“If the people of Riverra hear that we’re ‘bending over’ in the Concord, public reception will be poor,” Lucian said. “Riverrans hate the idea of Vantz, Veen, or New Riverrans poking around their nation. I think that’s precisely the sort of thing that could trigger a real revolt. If I were a demon, I’d almost definitely want that to happen.”

Denzel looked greatly unsettled. “What are you basing this on?”

“The same thing that told me Metterand needed to die,” Lucian said.

“Fair enough.” Denzel leaned back in the carriage. “It feels like we’re still facing so much to overcome. I knew that the empire was rotten, but it feels like I learned that I’ve been living with poisonous spiders for the better part of my life, never once seeing them.”

“I know the feeling. Just glad I’m not alone in this,” Lucian said.

The second mission would be just as desperate as in the first. He couldn’t see any way to prevent it. Maybe Metterand had a hand in causing the revolt, but he certainly wasn’t the prime cause. On paper, it would start as a minor strike that the rebels looked to the Concord to negotiate, but it would gradually escalate into a revolution that threatened to cause a regime change. The player’s intervention decided the outcome, only barely. The demons were taking advantage of the rebels, who had genuinely good intentions with evil, escalatory elements among them.

Denzel’s red eyes studied Lucian. “Why did you endeavor to make such a fool of yourself all these years if you weren’t one?”

“Maybe I stopped being a fool only recently. Ever considered that?” Lucian suggested.

As Lucian watched, Verne came into view once again. It wasn’t so bad, seeing it again. His plans were very far off course, but for some reason, he didn’t feel as panicked about that as he ought to be. He could afford to move faster with Heavenwatch backing him. His biggest bottleneck had been a lack of reliable allies. That was over, now.

Allies or no, the enemies they were facing were overwhelming. He was behind on his growth. He needed to catch up as soon as possible.